The Wall Street Journal interviewed Shook Partner Al Saikali about the wave of biometric privacy lawsuits affecting those in the retail, hospitality, restaurant and Internet industries, among others. In "Fingerprint-Scanning Time Clocks Spark Privacy Lawsuits," the Journal reported that Illinois employers who use fingerprint scanners to clock employees in and out of work have been hit with a wave of class action lawsuits in recent months under an privacy statute that covers biometric technology.

More than 50 companies, including United Airlines owner United Continental Holdings Inc., Hilton Worldwide Holdings, Inc., and the restaurant chain Hooters Inc., have faced such lawsuits, according to Al Saikali, a partner at Shook, Hardy & Bacon L.L.P. who chairs the law firm’s privacy and data security practice.

“All of a sudden biometric information privacy law has become a really hot topic in the last three months, and it really wasn’t on anyone’s radar six months ago,” said Saikali, who currently represents several companies that are facing biometric privacy litigation. Saikali is chair of the firm's Privacy and Data Security practice.